Bahrain WEC: Hartley beats Kobayashi to pole in Toyota 1-2
Brendon Hartley beat Kamui Kobayashi to pole position as Toyota locked out the front row for this weekend's Bahrain 6 Hours round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Hartley claimed his first pole of the Hypercar era with a 1m47.049s aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
That compared with the 1m47.447s from Kamui Kobayashi, who had topped the times in the second and third sessions of free practice in the #7 Toyota.
Both Toyotas set only one timed lap around a circuit known for its high tyre wear to save their allocation of Michelin rubber for the race.
"It's been a long time coming," said Hartley, who last claimed pole in the WEC at the Fuji round of the 2019/20 series when qualifying was an aggregate of the times of two drivers.
"It was close at Monza and I felt like I could have had the pole at Le Mans until I got traffic at the end of the lap.
"I made a mistake on my qually sim in FP3 here, so I built into the lap and had a really good sector three."
Andre Negrao was less than a second off the pace of the pole-winning Toyota aboard the solo Alpine A480-Gibson. The Brazilian ended up on a 1m48.003s set on his second flying lap, but had a quicker time deleted for a track limits infringement.
Tom Blomqvist claimed LMP2 pole for the JOTA team, which had led the way in each of the three practice session with its pair of Oreca 07 Gibsons.
He was quickest in the #28 Oreca on his first run courtesy of a 1m49.932s and then improved to a 1m49.885s after going out on for a second shot on a new set of tyres.
United Autosports driver Filipe Albuquerque trailed Blomqvist by half a second after the first runs, but ended up only a tenth shy of the pole with a 1m49.994s on a new set of tyres.
The second JOTA car ended up third in Antonio Felix da Costa's hands on 1m50.198s.
Loic Duval was was the quickest of the Pro/Am runners in fourth position aboard the TDS-run Realteam Oreca.
Porsche 1-2 in GTE Pro

#92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR - 19: Kevin Estre, Neel Jani
Photo by: Porsche Motorsport
Porsche driver Kevin Estre claimed his third GTE Pro pole of the season by just three hundredths of a second from teammate Gianmaria Bruni.
Estre's 1m56.144s aboard the #92 Porsche 911 RSR compared with Bruni's 1m56.178s in the second of the Manthey-run cars.
Both Porsche drivers stayed out for a second lap but failed to improve.
Ferrari edged closer to Porsche than in free practice, Miguel Molina just shading Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Molina posted a 1m57.327s on his first flying lap in his AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. That compared with the 1m57.573s set by Pier Guidi on his second lap in the championship-leading Ferrari.
Rino Mastronardi took GTE Am qualifying honours after being brought into the Iron Lynx WEC line-up for Bahrain.
The 2021 European Le Mans Series GTE champion with the Italian team took the pole ahead of Aston Martin driver Paul Dalla Lana.
Mastronardi set a 1m58.918s on his second lap, after losing his first to a track limits violation, which compared with Dalla Lana's 1m59.331s.
The six-hour race, the first of two back-to-back rounds at the Bahrain International Circuit that conclude the 2021 WEC, starts at 11am local time on Saturday.
The WEC 6 Hours of Bahrain will be streamed live on Motorsport.tv this Saturday. Click here for more information.
Bahrain 6 Hours - Qualifying results (Hypercar and LMP2):
GTE results:
Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Avg Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 92 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.144 | |
2 | 91 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.178 | 0.034 |
3 | 52 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'57.327 | 1.183 |
4 | 51 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'57.573 | 1.429 |
5 | 60 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'58.687 | 2.543 |
6 | 98 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.331 | 3.187 |
7 | 56 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'59.404 | 3.260 |
8 | 47 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'59.410 | 3.266 |
9 | 54 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'59.534 | 3.390 |
10 | 33 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.538 | 3.394 |
11 | 88 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'59.923 | 3.779 |
12 | 83 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'00.263 | 4.119 |
13 | 77 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 2'00.294 | 4.150 |
14 | 777 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 2'00.300 | 4.156 |
15 | 85 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'00.457 | 4.313 |
16 | 86 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 2'00.939 | 4.795 |
17 | 57 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'01.877 | 5.733 |
View full results |
Related video

Bahrain WEC: Kobayashi remains on top in final practice
Toyota expecting Alpine Bahrain WEC challenge

Latest news
Rolex 24: Ganassi Cadillacs top final GTP practice at Daytona
Renger van der Zande produced fastest lap for Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in the new GTP class’s final systems check before tomorrow’s 61st Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
Harvick still 'the guy' at SHR, but Briscoe finding his voice
It wasn’t that long ago Chase Briscoe was just hoping to secure a fulltime ride in the NASCAR Cup Series and he could soon be the veteran driver at one of the sport’s top organizations.
WEC assessing Sebring alternative for US round from 2024
The FIA World Endurance Championship has admitted that it is examining alternatives to Sebring for the US round of the series from 2024.
Taylor: "Worn out" error reset button better than Rolex 24 limp mode
Ricky Taylor has zero worries over the pace of the new Acura ARX-06, but believes the new GTP cars will encounter several sensor issues over the course of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Motorsport.com writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022.
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, are arguably the greatest sportscars of all time.
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad.
The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The Peugeot 9X8 will make its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend. The French manufacturer has gone radical and will be hoping it doesn’t need to overhaul its contender, as it did with its first Le Mans challenger…
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.